Possessive Landlord: An Instalove Possessive Alpha Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 168)

by Flora Ferrari

  I can feel Kane nodding, feel him thinking about so many things all at once. Calmly, decidedly. And I know from the rigid line running up my back that his foremost thought is still me, which makes me shudder another breath in.

  Sloane suddenly observes the pink slip, picking it up from the ground.

  “Looks official, Mr. Barret. If she’s out, she’s out. Pending an appeal, but if you’re the new owner, I can’t see how we could force this issue… especially seeing as it’s you…” The detective lowers his eyes, flushing with nothing short of what I’d only say was admiration. Like someone getting to meet their favorite sports hero.

  “I’ll take care of that,” Kane says with authority, taking the paper from Sloane and pocketing it, “If you take care of that,” he adds, pointing to Marco, who finally finds his voice.

  “I didn’t know who you were, you might’ve said something,” he groans miserably.

  “And you might have fallen from the balcony if I’d got here a minute after… you’re through here, Marco. I’ll have my team go over the accounts, see just how much ‘overdue’ rent you’ve been collecting for yourself, plus the assault charges we’ll both press and I guess you’ve got assaulting a police officer now too?” Kane says, quizzing Sloane who’s nodding while he mops his speckled brow.

  “You don’t touch what doesn’t belong to you. Mr.…?” Sloane says.

  “Brunel.”

  “Marco Brunel. Used to work for me… apparently,” Kane growls.

  Sloane repeats himself, giving me a friendly nod of his head as he looks to Marco again, wagging his finger in his direction. “You don’t touch what doesn’t belong to you, Mr. Brunel. Otherwise you have a price to pay, what’s Mr. Barret’s is Mr. Barret’s.”

  And I feel Kane squeeze me harder from behind, his hand sliding to my shoulder as he murmurs hoarsely into my ear.

  “Damned right… what’s mine is mine…”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Kane

  The presence of others, men especially gets my back up, but Sloane’s alright. He can take out the bag of trash that’s Marco, let him have some time in a cell to consider what it costs when you handle what doesn’t belong to you.

  “Call my office with any questions,” I tell Sloane, dismissing him as he hauls Marco off downstairs to wait for his uniformed ride.

  “Oh, I’ll be in touch. Mr. Barret, we’ll be in touch for a formal statement later,” he says, giving Marco some of his own medicine to prepare him for his special visit to the big house.

  Once we’re alone, I turn Trudi to face me, I tilt her chin up with my finger, feeling her whole body trembling still.

  “Tell me you’re alright.”

  She shudders another breath and I can see she’s not okay. She’s unhurt, but she’s got things on her mind. I need to show her, not just tell her, that I’m here now.

  No more problems for Trudi. Not ever again.

  Her eyes keep straying south, finally she bites her lip again, taking a deep breath in and asks me if I want to come inside again, I only reply to her glances by cocking my brow.

  “Oh I want to come in again,” I growl. “Again and again…” but I think she’s too overwhelmed to catch my double meaning.

  Or is she?

  Her coy smile wants to stay, but there’s so much in her eyes. So much in her face that’s telling me more than words about what she’s going through.

  “I have to go look for work. I have an interview and I’m late… Did that cop really mean it about the eviction thing? I mean… Oh! I just don’t know anything right now…”

  She looks frazzled, upset. Her lower lip starts to tremble in time with her body again and I just can’t stand it. I can’t stand to see her like this, in this place.

  I move over to her, so close her hands press up against my chest. She’s wanting to push me away but we both know she can’t.

  My thick hard on is still at full attention, pressing into her belly as I pull her towards me, I groan softly as I touch the small of her back and feel her warmth pressing into me, before she finally yields and sinks into me. My arms covering her, shielding her from the world at last.

  I hold her, letting her get her tears out, holding her while she jolts in sobs and sniffs. Holding her until she’s spent all she’s got left of her old life.

  “I feel so stupid…” she sniffs, “One minute I’m running late and now, now I’ve ruined everything… my job… my house… what am I gonna do?”

  “What do you want to do?” I ask her, knowing I can’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to, but hoping she’ll agree with what I’m about to command her to do, for her own good.

  “I’ve only just met you, but I feel like… I feel like I want this… whatever’s happening between us. I want that, but surely… I’m just a …”

  I let out another low sound, I want to kiss her so bad, I want to just throw her over my shoulder and carry her out of this place out of this life she’s made for herself.

  I want to take her home and spread her wide open on our bed, taste her come in my mouth before I fill her with my seed. I know she’s the only one I want to start the rest of my life with, have that family I’ve only ever seen other people enjoy so much.

  “You’re evicted,” I inform her gently as I hear her gasp, pulling back only far enough to bring her face up to look into my eyes again.

  “You’re coming home with me, and that’s that. No more shitty jobs, no more crummy apartments for you. You’re mine now. Understand?”

  I know she’s done the best for herself here in this place, with her full-time job and that insult they call a wage. Servitude is what I’d call it, keeping someone so perfect, so beautiful down on themselves like this. It’s criminal.

  Her eyes narrow for a second, there’s fire in her and she’s not just gonna let a man tell her what to do without having her say, but I see the shift in her eyes when she feels me pulsing against her, as her own body shudders at the recognition of what's between us.

  “I want you, Trudi. And I’m a man who gets what he wants because I know what I want…”

  This force that’s drawn us together, it’s bigger than both of us and it can’t be denied. I know it, and I know she feels it too.

  She only nods briefly, before clinging to me and we both just stand there, enjoying the silence, feeling each other up close for the first time. Both our hearts pounding with the thrill of excitement but feeling something peaceful at the same time.

  I know she’s the one. She’s younger than me, sure. But with my status, my money. It’s almost expected of me to take a girl half my age.

  I’ve raised eyebrows more than a few times with my notable absence of female companions, because I never found one I liked. Fake tits, a skeletal figure and Malibu Barbie tan don’t do anything for me.

  Looking at her now, holding Trudi close, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be with right now, or ever.

  “You’re mine, Trudi,” I tell her again, and she nods, letting me feel her face moving on my chest as I stroke her hair, smelling her sweet scent. My left hand tracing down her back, making her shiver again, making her burrow further into me so much that I can only think of the one thing that will bring us closer.

  Soon.

  I’ll make her mine properly, forever.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Trudi

  I put both my hands flat on Kane’s chest, mostly on his firm abs, the guy’s like six feet seventeen. I sigh shakily, noticing my hands still trembling, my mind still reeling from all that’s happened in such a short amount of time.

  “Can we just take a minute here? I mean… I just need some time with this. I was running late for a job interview and now I have the world’s biggest… well, I have you here, telling me how it’s gonna be.”

  I notice his brow creasing, his shoulders sagging a little but he doesn’t look too upset.

  Okay, he looks a little peeved.

  “We just met, Kane… I just need to ta
ke all this in… can I just stay here for a while, I’ll pay my rent after my interview today, once I get to the bank and maybe… if you wanna grab a coffee or something, we can get to know each other some more…”

  I can’t see anybody built like this man, who smells so good and has enough money to buy whole apartment blocks for fun having anything really serious in mind when it comes to someone like me.

  I just can’t.

  Kane. Mr. Barret. He caught me at a weak moment, an emotional moment, that’s all. He’s been very understanding, even doing what I’ve always wanted to by smacking out that shit Marco. But I can’t just up and leave my whole life based on one encounter with a sexy guy. It’s just not the sort of thing that happens to me. Or anybody.

  And I tell Kane as much, in my own special, ‘I’d rather come home to my one bedroom headache than take a chance on thinking anybody would be interested in me, let alone a god damned Adonis millionaire’ kind of way.

  He’s not buying it though.

  “Alright.” He announces, “We’ll go for coffee. Maybe do a little shopping… get to know each other. How about that?” he asks, trying to look patient and understanding, but his whole body, especially his crotch is telling me a different story still.

  Damn if that isn’t the biggest, most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen.

  My whole body wants it, all of it. I want to drench his cock, his whole body with my juices.

  But I don’t even know where to start with that kind of stuff. I don’t recall the last time I saw myself naked, let alone a man. I wouldn’t know what to do.

  His cologne smells more expensive than my whole apartment, I just can’t see it.

  “I’m too fat!” I blurt out, and now I see him getting annoyed.

  “How could a guy like you possibly go for this?” I ask, grabbing a handful of my side and turning to show it to him, but I notice him moan instead, a sound of mixed emotion and disbelief.

  I really think he likes what he sees. He’s not faking that hard on either.

  I take a few deep breaths and can only feel his eyes boring into me, undressing me and positioning me so he can penetrate me fully.

  I become aware that my own breath, my own body is shaking as much as he is, primed for something I have no idea about.

  Yet. But I feel it about to boil over inside me.

  “Trudi,” he announces with an air of urgency, but stops himself from moving, like he’s frozen to the spot.

  “I don’t want to hear you talk about yourself like that anymore, okay?”

  I nod my head, staring at his bulging crotch again.

  “Let’s get outta here,” he suggests, “You can stay here as long as you like, but just give me one day of your time, alright? I’ll even pay you for it, have a word with your interviewing employer and see if you don’t feel differently by the morning, how about that?” he smiles.

  It’s a winning champion of everything he does smile. The smile I just know has sealed multi-million dollar deals as well as helped old ladies across the street and has this little ugly duckling nodding her head as if she’s wanting it to fall off from the pressure building inside her.

  “One day?” I ask him, figuring it's Wednesday… Not the best day to be job hunting anyway. I can always swing by the other place on Friday or Saturday, Monday even. When I know they’re busy and will rehire me in a snap. Nobody cleans that coffee machine like I do… they’ll want me back. In the meantime I can see where Mr. Barret wants to take me today, see if I can’t get me some more of those free hugs with a firm center.

  He’s smiling wide already, like he’s already got his way, but I’m sticking to my guns, regardless of the moisture level in my panties, my pounding heartbeat and sweaty palms. I could have the flu for all I know.

  No man’s just gonna come in and sweep me off my feet. Not without a fight…

  Right?

  My god, but he’s perfect.

  I can’t help but smile with Kane either, there’s something so disarming about him when he’s not punching people out or growling, or making me faint from just being so damned irresistible.

  “I’ll have to change though… these are my good clothes.” I caution him, and he holds both hands up in mock surrender, putting on a serious face for me while he sits himself down, dwarfing my tiny couch with his huge muscular frame.

  I know he’s already got me, I just have to make out like he has to win me properly.

  There’s still a huge part of me who, even when I pinch myself, that still feels like all of this is a dream that started bad but turned into one come true as soon as Kane showed up.

  “Where’s your work?” he asks, and then quickly adds, “How much is a shift worth to you for one day, usually… on a Wednesday?”

  “It’s about ten blocks from here and I get around eighty dollars, mostly tips,” I tell him, furious at how red I turn. Realizing how ashamed I actually am about my job, my life… about everything.

  “I need to change…” I remind him and he takes a sharp breath in as I slide behind the door which leads to my tiny bedroom. I half wish he’d just come in here, run those huge hands all over me, take care of this sodden ache between my legs and get it over and done with. Let me get on with my life without this crazy urgency that’s taken over.

  But he doesn’t. He’s the perfect gentleman and he waits until I come out ten minutes later having tried on everything I own, deciding none of it's any good to wear in front of him, settling on the only jeans I have that fit and an oversized blouse.

  “Beautiful,” he growls to himself under his breath as I come out, looking down at the floor and feeling like I’ve just come last in a beauty pageant.

  “Shall we go?” he asks, eyeing me greedily, getting up and holding out his arm for me to take.

  I feel almost like royalty as I step out onto my old balcony, pulling the rotted door shut to lock it behind us as we float down the old wrought iron staircase, which I somehow know won’t be a journey I’ll be making again anytime soon.

  Not if Kane gets what he wants.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Kane

  Seeing Trudi in two outfits in almost as many minutes, it’s too much. When she tells me she’s gonna go change, my instinct is to follow her, to undress her and to spend the rest of the day finding ways to keep her from getting dressed.

  But I have to try hard to remind myself she wants to take it slow. Not everyone wants to jump into bed with their new landlord after five minutes.

  Looking around the apartment, I can see nothing that holds value or promise, apart from the fact it’s where Trudi comes from.

  I have to pick my jaw up off the floor before I can even stand, and I don’t care if the world sees how hard she’s making me anymore. I can’t control it. My jacket should keep me from getting arrested, but her eyes glancing down and watching her smile turn up at the corners make me even harder for her by the minute.

  The fresh air and Trudi on my arm as we leave the building makes me feel like a new man. My car’s waiting across the street and I feel Trudi tense up as we get closer.

  “This is your car?” she asks, and I feel like I’m dragging her the last few steps but we need to get off the road.

  “Yes,” I say, opening the rear door for her and helping her in.

  She stifles a guffaw of disbelief, which reminds me of how I must’ve looked when I saw her coming out in those jeans just now. The surest way to a man’s heart is through wearing a decent pair of jeans, and Trudi’s curves in that denim, with a pair of low black boots has me panting like a wolf.

  I like to drive, but when I’m busy, or in this case have a major distraction like Trudi, I’m grateful for the limo. It’s flashy but I often need to concentrate on other things while getting someplace.

  Today is all about Trudi though, so I need both eyes fixed where the rewards are greatest, and I feel spoiled today, right now, having to choose between staring at her pretty face or her ample chest, which is like two giant m
agnets for my eyes.

  Her wide eyes are running over the interior of the car and mine are running over her. I sit opposite her, facing backwards so I can watch her, watch the world she’s leaving behind.

  “So… where are we going?” she asks, looking suddenly nervous again after the initial surprise of the limo wears off. My driver knows to take me to my next appointment after the apartment complex, which was a morning coffee meeting, which I’ve just canceled.

  “For coffee,” I say, smiling. Promoting her to the most important thing on my calendar all day, and every day after this one.

  “I think you can tell me about that building you lived in too, all the things wrong with it. Don’t hold back, I want to know how much of a lemon I just bought into.”

  She looks sheepishly out the window and I can tell I’ve hit a nerve by focusing on her apartment.

  “Well, the doors don’t close… the hot water is always on the fritz,” she begins.

  “Uh huh, okay, this is good to know.” I tell her, making little mental notes while watching the light dance off her glossy lips, the shine in her blue eyes spectacular from the morning sun in them.

  “…The fire escapes are rusted shut, the windows never open… the a/c has a pigeon living in it… the refrigerator…”

  “Okay! Okay! I get it,” I cut her off, laughing but then not laughing once I see how upsetting it is for her to recount the slum she’s been living in.

  “I’m not laughing at you, Trudi. I’m not.” I say truthfully, leaning in and taking one of her hands in mine.

  “I’m laughing the bitter laugh of a man who thought he was getting a bargain, but really bought something that needs a lot of work… But also the same man’s laugh who realizes he’s paid a small price for the greatest thing in the world.”

  She crosses her brow in a question, but I leave it at that for now. I don’t want to scare her off. I’m pinching myself that I even found her, let alone got her in my car within a half hour. That’s incredible.